Arnbjörg María Danielsen is a director, dramaturge and producer in the fields of contemporary music, theatre and opera. Her interdisciplinary practice combines artistic production, dramaturgical and curatorial approaches. As a dramaturge and director she has developed interdisciplinary music theatre projects on the intersection of contemporary and classical music, visual arts, literature and historical research. Arnbjörg María Danielsen was born in Reykjavik, and grew up in Norway and Iceland. She has lived for the greater part of her life in Central Europe, i.e. Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. She is based in Berlin.
Arnbjörg María Danielsen holds a Master of Arts in Opera and Music Theatre from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, as well as an Executive Master of Arts Administration from the University of Zürich.
arnbjorg.com
Classical:NEXT Director Jennifer Dautermann majored in classical music performance with additional studies in photography at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan School of Music with parallel professional engagements at institutions such as the Michigan Opera Theater and the Ohio Light Opera Company. After graduation, she concentrated on photography, first as an instructor’s assistant at New York City’s International Center of Photography as well as a freelance studio and print development assistant. After moving to Berlin, Jennifer was a member of the in the British Council’s Arts and Creative Industries department for over seven years.
In 2009, she independently initiated and realized the C3 Festival (Club Contemporary Classical), a showcase for contemporary music mixing elements of new classical and electronica at Berlin’s Berghain club, later expanding it to additional cities. She was given the task of founding an international meeting for the professional art music scene in early 2011 and has been the Director of the result, Classical:NEXT, since that time.
classicalnext.com/net/piranha_arts_1/member/jennifer_dautermann
Soprano and director Ylva Kihlberg was born and educated in Stockholm, Sweden. She started her career at The Royal Opera in Stockholm and has been a principle at The Royal Opera in Copenhagen for 16 years. Furthermore, she has sung in countries like USA, England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, always in leading roles like Tosca, The Marchallin, Rusalka, Jenufa, Marie, Mimi, Tatjana, Alice, Vitella, Donna Elvira, The Countess and many more. Danish composer Poul Ruders has written an opera, based on Lars von Triers Dancer in the Dark for her, which she performed both in Copenhagen and New York City.
This year, Ylva Kihlberg celebrates 25 years on the opera stage, and will also celebrate her debut as a director, directing Puccini’s opera Suor Angelica in Copenhagen. She appears on several CD and DVD releases, has won several scholarships and awards. Ylva Kihlberg has been awarded the Cross of Order of Chivalry by Queen Margrethe II.
Kihlberg is currently preparing to do Puccini’s Angelica in Copenhagen next month: http://www.christianskirke.dk/event/3427079
crescendiartists.com/Artist/ArtistDetails
Frode Andersen is from in Bergen, Norway, and studied accordion at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He made his debut concert in 1997, and the year after in Norway. Andersen works as chamber musician, soloist and theater musician, and has played with most Danish orchestras and ensembles. His great interest in contemporary music is reflected in both his concert activities and his work as an initiator, administrator and organizer for a number of events and institutions on the Danish contemporary music scene. In the recent years, Frode Andersen has devoted more time to other musical genres such as opera, improvisations, early music and folk music.
Andersen is also active as a composer and organizer. His compositions have been performed by, among others, DR Pigekoret, DR Vocal Ensemble, Cop. Phil, Athelas Sinfonetta and Transit Ensemble New in New York. Frode also arranges music for his own Duo Askou // Andersen.
askouandersen.dk
Missy Mazzoli. Recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (New York Times), Missy Mazzoli has had her music performed globally by the Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, LA Opera, the Minnesota Orchestra and many others. From 2012-2015, she was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia; her 2016 opera Breaking the Waves was called “one of the best 21st-century American operas yet” by Opera News, was a finalist for a 2017 International Opera Award and received the “Best Opera of 2016” award from the Music Critic’s Association of North America. In 2012, Beth Morrison Projects presented Song from the Uproar, Missy’s first multimedia chamber opera, which had a sold-out run at the New York venue The Kitchen.
Missy’s third opera, Proving Up, will premiere at Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and New York’s Miller Theatre in 2018. Recent months included the premiere of an extended work for her ensemble Victoire, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, and new works performed by pianist Emanuel Ax, the BBC Symphony, and the LA Philharmonic. Missy’s works are published by G. Schirmer.
missymazzoli.com
Annilese Miskimmon is Director of Opera for Den Norske Opera and Ballet in Oslo from August 2017. She was General Manager/Artistic Director of Den Jyske/Danish National Opera since 2012. She is from Northern Ireland, gained a MA in English Literature from Christ’s College, Cambridge and graduated in Arts Management from City University at the Barbican, London. She was Consultant Associate Director for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and from 2005 to 2013 Artistic Director of Opera Theatre Company Ireland. She has worked extensively in many prestigious international opera houses. Recent and future directing plans include Madama Butterfly/Puccini for Glyndebourne Festival and Tour, Jenufa/Janacek for Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm, and I puritani/Bellini for the Liceu Barcelona.
She has an international reputation for invigorating neglected masterpieces as well as re-inventing classic opera in a way that delights and develops accessibility for modern audiences. This includes major recent projects such as Democratic Opera and the DJO Opera Virgins initiative. Her critically acclaimed work has won several prestigious awards, and she has served on the juries of the Independent Opera Awards, the Armel International Opera Festival and the Queen Sonia singing Competition amongst others. She is an active member of Opera Europa.
operaen.no/en/About-DNOB/Ledelsen/annilese-miskimmon
Jon R. Skulberg is a Norwegian artist based in Copenhagen. Skulberg is educated as scenographer from Norwegian Theatre Academy, Fredrikstad, Institute of Dramaturgy, Aarhus University and Dance Studies, Copenhagen University. He works as director, choreographer and scenographer. Skulberg has worked with Kirsten Dehlholm and Hotel Pro Forma on several opera productions, including Parsifal at Teatr Wielki, Poznan, 2013, and Madama Butterfly at La Monnaie De Munt, Brussels, 2017.
Besides his collaboration with Hotel Pro Forma, Skulberg is the second half of JULI/JON, a choreography duo creating investigating biographical choreographies. In 2015, Skulberg founded Convoi Exceptionnel, his own production company focusing on interdisciplinarity and spatial-somatic relationship within the theater, opera, dance and installation.
jonskulberg.com
Line Tjørnhøj is a Danish composer, curator and sound artist. The voice occupies a central position in Tjørnhøj’s compositions. She exploits it in a conceptually operatic framework, in staged concerts, and multimedia performances. Her acoustic universe is free and intuitive. Tjørnhøj typically deals with timeless problems and emotions via stories from our own time. She exploits the soothing quality and beauty of the voice to establish a space for reflection. She works collaboratively with the performers for which her works are created, insisting that the individual elements of a performance are all interrelated.
Tjørnhøj studied composition at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. She has received grants from the Danish Arts Foundation and the Danish Composers’ Society, among others. Her opera Anorexia Sacra was awarded best chamber opera by the American Opera Vista Festival, 2009. Her works have been played by renowned ensembles and orchestras as Göteborg Operan, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Ensemble Lydenskab, Esbjerg Ensemble. Selected works are “Shanghai” (2017), “TUSK” (2016), “Art Vox Reportage” (2014, nominee for Carl Prisen 2015), and “Oration”, (2013).
edition-s.dk/composer/line-tjoernhoej
